Witness:No massacre in Jenin, Israel

[Guest guest]

[Written by Saul Kramer, a former South African who was called up for

"miluim" (Reserve) duty at the beginning of Operation Defensive

Shield. He

spent three weeks in Jenin...if anybody knows what happened there,

he does.]

 

Tales from Jenin

 

Hi all. I'm writing this email after having returned last night from

the

emergency army call up that sweetly interrupted my life 3 weeks ago.

I'm

writing this email for simple reasons, to tell you the truth about

what

happened in Jenin over the last 2-3 weeks and to share some of the

stories

and incidents that we had. It's pretty sad seeing and hearing the

lies CNN,

BBC and all the others have been feeding the world when you have

seen a

completely different picture yourself. Let me just get one thing

cleared,

there was no massacre in Jenin, I repeat no massacre in Jenin!!!

(I'll get

back to this later).

 

My reserve battalion was stationed on the northern and eastern

border of

Jenin with the purpose of ensuring the enclosure of the area during

the

Defensive Shield Operation took place. We were divided amongst a

number of

roadblocks and defensive positions with the main purpose of

preventing

terrorists leaving Jenin to carry out attacks inside Israel and also

from

escaping during the operation.

 

We were also responsible for monitoring the entrance of the Press and

humanitarian aid going into Jenin, and also Palestinians needing to

leave

Jenin for humanitarian reasons. I myself together with 11 other

soldiers

manned a small roadblock at the northern tip of Jenin, which was one

of the

main thoroughfares for traffic entering and exiting the area. Jenin

is not a

big town. The refugee camp is a small part of Jenin and the pictures

repeatedly shown on TV are of a small section (10%-15%) of the

refugee camp

that was destroyed. The refugee camp is where the terrorists have

mainly

operated and harboured factories and storage facilities for weapons,

explosive belts etc.

 

Many of the recent suicide bombers have strapped themselves up in

this

refugee camp. What is also very fascinating is that UNWRA (United

Nations

Work and Relief Agency- part of the UN) has been responsible for the

refugee

camps over the last 50 years and has allowed terrorist

infrastructure to

flourish under its nose.

 

In the fighting that took place in the refugee camp, children were

used as

human shields by the terrorists. One of the brigade commanders told

us this

last Saturday night that they were shot at in the small alleys of

the camp.

They returned fire only to hear the cries of young children to which

they

immediately stopped shooting and prayed that they had not killed any

children. They hadn't. The army's respect and consideration for the

lives of

innocent civilians is of a high standard. For this reason, 23 of our

own

boys were killed in the Jenin fighting. If we had no regard for the

lives of

innocent civilians, 23 sons, husbands and fathers would be at home

with

their families now. They were the price we paid for the high moral

and

ethical standards upheld during the fighting.

 

During the week of the incursion into Jenin the area was a closed

military

zone. However contrary to what was reported, humanitarian aid was

allowed in

and I myself personally checked many of the hundreds of trucks that

were

allowed in to deliver supplies to the Palestinians. This was

carefully

coordinated with the army to ensure that innocent civilians would

receive

the supplies and to minimise the risks of those entering the areas.

 

For a few days after the fighting had stopped, the area was closed

off to

the press. This is when the rumours of the massacre began despite

the army

press giving detailed briefing sessions to the media on the

situation. So

why was the area closed to the press and what did we seemingly have

something to hide?

 

Simply, the refugee camp had been booby trapped by the terrorists and

minefields awaited those that entered. Soldiers inside the refugee

camp told

me of not being able to move 5 meters at a time without having to

diffuse

another pipe bomb or mine. Many of the houses destroyed were done so

by

bombs planted by the very residents of the camp. Some of the dead

bodies

were also booby trapped with grenades and mines awaiting the Israeli

soldiers. (The Palestinian death toll stands at below 40 with maybe

another

20 or so buried in the rubble of which most has been cleared up.

This was

also told to us by embarrassed reporters who entered the area eagerly

waiting to report an Israeli massacre of Palestinians only to be

disappointed to find minimal destruction.

 

The media. Last Sunday while myself and my good friend Ben were on

duty at

the roadblock at the time when no press were allowed to enter Jenin,

we

spotted a jeep trying to evade the roadblock through an adjacent

field. We

managed to stop the jeep and discovered a group of French

Journalists who

had managed to enter Jenin and were now trying to leave. We followed

the

normal procedure of questioning them, checking their vehicle and

identification. This process sometimes takes a while because we have

to

phone another army base that then checks the identities with the

Israeli

authorities which includes the intelligence operations. Anyway, it

turned

out that one of the supposed French journalists is actually a

Palestinian terrorist on Israel's wanted list. He was taken away by

the

police together with the other real French journalists. Bet you

never heard

about that one on TV. Last Thursday, friends of mine on duty at

another

outpost a few kilometres away from me spotted two young kids walking

in the

middle of the day with black backpacks on their backs. The two kids

entered

an abandoned structure about 800 meters away from the outpost and

left

without the bags. The kids thought they had gone unnoticed. It was

later

discovered that the bags contained weapons, explosives, and an

Israeli army

uniform with a red paratrooper beret. The plan was for a terrorist

to pickup

the loot at night, dress up as an Israeli soldier and attack the

outpost. We

had already received intelligence reports 5 days earlier warning of a

terrorist dressing up as a soldier and entering one of the outposts.

 

Avi, a good friend of mine studying together with me at Bar Ilan was

stationed in Nablus (Shchem) during this operation and told me the

following: They took over a house in Nablus as a stronghold in order

for the

operation to clear out the terrorist infrastructure there. While in

the

house, they did not use the electricity to charge their cell phones.

They

did not touch or eat any food left in the house. They made a

concerted

effort not to use any furniture in the house. When they left the

house a few

days ago during the pullout of Nablus, they cleaned the house and

left money

on the table. I have heard this reported from soldiers that were

also in

Beit Lechem, Tulkarm, Kalkilya and Jenin.

 

On Monday morning this week, a UN bus entered Jenin carrying a UN

rescue

team from Britain. The team included doctors and other rescue

personnel who

get dispatched around the world to help with rescue operations. Four

hours

later the bus returned through our roadblock and they stopped and we

had a

chance to chat a little. The first thing they said is that this was

the

biggest waste of time for them and they would be catching the next

flight

out of Israel. One of the doctors told us that one of

the "massacred" bodies

he examined was that of a man that had been dead for ~ years. What a

shame

the Palestinians dug him up to add to the death toll. As my friends

and I

packed up yesterday ready to head for home we joked at how the whole

world

considers us to be monsters and how one day we might all be charged

for war

crimes. We felt good for having served our country once again and we

hope

that something was achieved in this operation.

 

What lies ahead is still uncertain. What became so clear to me is the

importance of seeing things in the right context and perspective. If

all

that happened these last 3 weeks was an Israeli incursion into the

Palestinian areas, then yes, maybe we don't look so good in the

world's

eyes. But looking in the context of the history of Israel and our

longing to

live peacefully side by side with our Arab neighbours, we cannot let

terror

to exist and destroy our dream. I pray and hope that new Palestinian

leadership emerges that will want to make this world a better place

for its

people.

 

Saul Kramer